“For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:6 Over the past few generations the belief of parental love has been redefined as giving a child what they want, when they want it. Therefore correction is seen as a lack of love or even abuse. However, our scripture teaches that the Lord’s chastening and corrective hand upon His children is a firm hand of parental love and not punishment... more

You could choose any number of marquee dilemmas to illustrate how broken congressional politics has become. Guns, Russian interference, climate change — Americans want progress on all of them and get little from Capitol Hill. But to my mind, nothing illustrates the dire state of our politics better than how we act on the federal budget... more

You could choose any number of marquee dilemmas to illustrate how broken congressional politics has become. Guns, Russian interference, climate change — Americans want progress on all of them and get little from Capitol Hill. But to my mind, nothing illustrates the dire state of our politics better than how we act on the federal budget... more

In my 19 years of working for a farmers cooperative, I’ve seen all types of farmers and ranchers. There have always been “weekend farmers” for whom farming is a lark, a small supplemental income or a tax write-off. Other herdsmen and planters have farming in their DNA. They yearn to be able to maintain farms handed down through generations and support their families SOLELY through the sweat of their brow in the croplands, pastures, orchards and dairy barns... more

The Wall Street Journal article made me both hungry and wistful. According to The Journal, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Campbell’s Soup, Kellogg’s cereals and many other “big-food” staples of the ‘70s are in trouble. “High-end consumers are shifting toward fresher items with fewer processed ingredients, while cost-conscious shoppers are buying inexpensive store brands,” reports The Journal... more

Donald Trump, the man who needs a cue-card to feign basic human empathy, is serious about gun control? Yeah, right. This is still the same president whose promises far outperform his actual ability to carry them out. Remember when Trump promised a spectacular replacement for Obamacare? That hasn’t happened. In fact, he made it worse... more

We live in a country where liberals are constantly working to get rid of things that were once sacred to America. They’ve taken God out of our public schools. They’ve politicized and disrespected our national anthem. Now, exploiting a tragic school shooting in Florida, they’re aiming to get rid of our guns... more

In the wake of last week’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, new heroes have emerged. They are the young men and women who survived and have made their horrifying experience a defining moment in the lives of all Americans. The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are demonstrating more commitment than their government when it comes to putting an end to unregulated access to weapons of mass destruction, which is exactly what AR-15s and similar, modified semi-automatic firearms are... more

CHICAGO - Along Interstate 294 a billboard campaign was launched this week to educate people about the hijab headscarf that’s frequently worn by Muslim women. The signs were purchased by GainPeace, a group hoping to combat prejudice and promote a better understanding of Islam through the use of billboards. Great idea - but where did it come from?... more

Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Jamie Dimon vs. the entire United States Congress? My money is on Buffett, Bezos, and Dimon. These men, three of the wealthiest, most influential, and powerful business leaders in the world, recently announced an alliance that will attempt to address the tangled knot that is the U.S. healthcare system... more

I think I jinxed myself when I told my wife that Neil Diamond was one of the few singers I might actually go to the trouble of seeing in concert. Yes, not too long after I made that pronouncement, Diamond abruptly went cold turkey on touring, because of a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease... more

During the intense media coverage of Wednesday’s tragic events in Parkland, Fla., I was shocked to hear it was the 18th school shooting so far this year. 18. In 45 days. That sounds terrible. That sounds like a huge American crisis that needs to be addressed immediately by our great leaders in Washington... more

A conflict between the United States Department of Justice and the states over marijuana policy threatens to derail everything from proper treatment of the opioid crisis to criminal justice reform to updating the nation’s banking laws. It’s hard to believe it goes that far. ... more

Now is the time to politicize gun violence. In the wake of the recent mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, how can we not? It’s tiresome to hear Republican lawmakers say it’s inappropriate to politicize this tragedy. Their responses are numbingly repetitive and rote... more

President Donald Trump’s plan to spend $200 billion in federal money to somehow spur $1.5 trillion in state, local and private investment in infrastructure reconstruction elicited a collective eyeroll when it was finally made public on Monday. I’ll credit Trump for getting the ball rolling on an important conversation. If there’s anything that could spur bipartisan agreement in Washington, it’s road and bridge repairs, broadband expansion, water works and port and rail improvements... more

Remember the 1980s and all that growth? Yeah, but Reagan gave us deficits as far as the eye could see in exchange for them, right? That’s the story that stuck. The true story is something quite different. Reagan’s budgets only spent more than the Democrats’ budgets one year, when we were rebuilding the military. ... more

For most of my adult life, I kicked myself because I had carried a one-of-a-kind childhood photo (featuring me, my brother and our cousins) in my wallet until the snapshot disintegrated. Thankfully, I recently discovered that my mother possesses a different photo from that same family picnic; but the close call still lit a fire under me to stop procrastinating about using my flatbed scanner to digitize the treasure trove of photographs and newspaper clippings that my mother has been digging out of trunks, boxes, albums and dresser drawers.. ... more

As Valentine’s Day approached this year, I was at a loss regarding how to surprise my wife with a gift that would truly show my love and appreciation to her for not smothering me in my sleep. My daughters had presented their Valentine’s wish lists (yes, wish lists) shortly after Christmas, so I’d already financed their gifts. ... more

I still have no idea why Laura Lindsey liked me, but she did. It happened during my sixth-grade year in the spring of 1974, when she transferred to our school. Laura had grace and style and was instantly embraced by the popular girls. She was out of my league, but I pursued her nonetheless... more

You watch Fox News - “We love President Trump.” You watch MSNBC or CNN - “We hate President Trump.” Is there any other news going on in the world that isn’t about Trump? I swear, if the World Trade Center had come down yesterday, the top story today in the mainstream media would be all about Donald Trump... more